Radial construction of foundation garments



April 20, 1954 J. LEONARD 2,675,548

RADIAL CONSTRUCTION OF FOUNDATION GARMENTS Filed Jan. 25, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TOR.

Josepk [canard April 20, 1954 J. LEONARD RADIAL CONSTRUCTION OF FOUNDATION GARMENTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 23, 1952 INVENTOR. Jose dfi [award BY ga 4,4MM

nTTORNEYS Patented Apr. 20, 1954 UNITED STATES ENT OFFICE York Application January 23, 1952; Serial No; 267,853'

3 Claims.

This invention relates toimprovements in the construction of foundation garments, such as girdles and the like.

I- have found that I can combine extremely effective control of the abdominal region withgreat simplicity in constructionby incorporating overlapping elastic panels in the garment in'proximity to the abdominal region provided each such panel consists of material which is stretchable in primarily one direction and when assembled in the garment the panels are superimposed so that their lines of stretchability are oppositely disposed and form acute angles relative to the horizontal axis of the garment. In such case, tensionin the superimposed layers tends to act radially and provides remarkably efiective controlover the abdomen. In effect, the garment acts as if it were constructed of material having radially disposed lines of stretchability when the material actually used stretches in a single direction.

In manufacturing this garment I provide a relatively narrow panel member in the front of the garment which is either inelastic or is stretchable only vertically but not horizontally or circumferentially. On either side of this front panel member I incorporate the particular elastic panel construction of this invention.

A portion of such panel is cut and'formedoi material which is primarily stretchable in a single direction and this is attached to the side of the front panel member so that it is stretchable atan angle between about 8 degrees-to 22 degrees relative to the horizontal axis of the garment.- Another section, cut from the same material and likewise stretchable in primarily one direction, is attached to the same side of the front panel member'but with its line of stretchability oppositely disposed relative to the other panel and so that it is partially superimposed on the other panel. This second section is attached to the side of the front panel member with its line of stretchability. forming an angle of between about 8 degrees and 22 degrees with the horizontal axis of the garment but in the opposite direction relative to the first elastic panel.

Each of the aforesaid panel sections is cut so that it covers more than one-half, but less than the entire height of the panel. The panel sections thus overlap and are superimposed in the mid-portion of the garment.

Preferably, the two overlapping elastic panel sections are assembled in the garment with the lower edge of one section and the upper edge of the other section forming ataper which outlinesthe superimposed area, with the taper narrowing toward the front of the garment. In-the superimposed portion of the garment the lines of stretchability in each panel section are disposed at an angle between about 16 degrees and 44 degrees relative to each other but between about 8 de rees and22 degrees relative to the horizontal axisof the garment. As a result the garment exerts efiective elastic tension radially over the abdominal region.

In the drawing Fig. l is a front elevation showing the, structure of my invention embodied in a girdle and Fig. 2 is a rear elevationof the same garment; Fig. 3 is a front elevation'showing a modified form of my invention; Fig, 4- isa rear elevation of-the garment of Fig. 3; and Fig. 51s a fragmentary cross section-on the line "5-5 of Fig. 3'.

The garment lllconsists of a plurality of panel members which are attached to each other circum-ferentially to form the girdle. The panel members are shown at l2, [3, I4; l5, l6, and II.

The front panel member l2 and the back panel member I! are made of. inelastic material (or of elastic material which isstretchable verticallybut not horizontally or circumferentially). At either side ofback panel member I! panel members [Sand lfiiformed of elastic material which is stretchable horizontally and circumferentiab 1y) are attached. Back panel member I'I maycarry a separate top edge portion 28 (as shown in the drawing) above the waistline which is stretchable horizontally.

In'Fig. lpanel members [3 and E4, on either side of panel member 12, incorporate the particular structure of this invention.

The'arrows in the drawing indicate the line of direction of stretchability of the various panel sections or panelv members; In this application I use the term panel section to indicate a layer of fabric which is attached -'to another layer-to form a panel memberwhich runs from the topto bottom of the-garment. Specifically, panel sections wand 20 are attached to each other to form the panel member I3; and panel sections 22 and are attachedto y'form panel member l4;

one direction x and istherefore primarily 'stretch- 'able'inthatdirection. 'In. this type of material the 'stretchability in "a direction? at? right angles" to the rubber is limited although the fabric may possess some slight stretch in that direction.

Panel member i3 is formed by attaching together two partially superimposed panel sections I8 and 20. Panel section I8 is stretchable in a single direction and is attached to the garment so that its line of stretchability is at an acute angle relative to the horizontal axis of the garment. This is shown by the arrow on the drawing. Likewise, panel section 20 is attached to the garment so that its line of stretchability is oppositely disposed relative to that of section 13. Panel sections 18 and 28 overlap in the midportion of the panel member, as indicated by the crossed arrows, and this shows the superimposition of the respective lines of stretch-- ability of the material of panel sections I 8 and 29.

The superimposed layers are attached to the garment so that intermediate edges 2| and '23 form a tapered mid-section with the taper narrowing toward the front of the garment.

The same construction is used in panel member M on the other side of panel member 12.

Panel sections 22 and 2t correspond to panel sections it and 29 and are superimposed in the midportion of the garment so that their lines of stretchability (as shown by the crossed arrows) are oppositely disposed in the same manner as in panel member l3.

The back panel member I! is made of material which is inelastic horizontally but elastic vertically. The back panel member if carries a top portion 28 above the waistline which is stretchable horizontally.

On either side of back panel member ll, panel members I and it are attached and these panel members are also attached to the side edges of panel members i3 and 14 respectively. In panel members 15 and It the elastic material may be stretchable horizontally and circumferentially. These panel members may also contain sections which are superimposed in the same manner as panel members i3 and Hi except that as shown in Fig. 2 the line of stretchability of the fabric in panel members 15 and 16 extends circumferentially and is not oppositely disposed as in panel members l3 and I4. A tapered portion may be formed in panel members 15 and It with the taper narrowing toward the back of the garment.

A conventional zipper member 27 is shown at the side of panel l5.

In Fig. 3 I show a structure which is the same as the structure of Fig. 1 except that panel members 32 and 3d (embodying the structure of this invention) extend around and attach directly to back panel member 36. In such case the tapered mid-portion extends from the side edges of back member 36 to the side edges of front panel member 3! with the taper narrowing all the way toward the front of the garment.

Fig. 5 shows cross-sectional detail of the superimposed layers of the fabric sections in panel member 34 where fabric section 34 is superimposed in the mid-portion on fabric section 35. A conventional zipper member 31 is shown in panel member 3|.

In each case, the panel members are joined together circumferentially by sewing or stitching the panels together with or without binding tape or the like.

I have found that a foundation garment embodying the particular panel construction of this invention acts uniformly and effectively over therabdominal region in response to stresses applied to the garment and I believe this control is a direct result of the radial distribution of these stresses in the garment as pointed out above. I have described preferred embodiments of my invention but changes in detail may be made without altering the basic structure of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a foundation garment having a plurality of panel members joined together to form an integral garment, the combination which comprises a front fabric panel member running lengthwise from the top to the bottom of the garment made of material which is substantially inelastic horizontally and circumferentially, a back panel member running lengthwise from the top to the bottom of the garment comprising a bottom portion made of material which is inelastic horizontally and circumferentially and a top portion made of material which is elastic primarily in a horizontal and circumferential direction, said bottom portion extending upwardly through a. major portion of the length of the garment and said bottom and top portions being joined together along their contiguous edges in a circumferential direction, a pair of side panel members positioned in the rear of the garment which run from the top to the bottom of the garment each of which is positioned at opposite sides of the back panel members and joined to the back panel members along their contiguous side edges in a vertical direction, each of said side panel members being made of material which is primarily elastic in a circumferential and horizontal direction, a second pair of side panel members positioned in the front of the garment, running lengthwise from the top to the bottom of the garment each of which is positioned between opposite side edges of the front panel member and the free side edge of one of said side panel members in the rear of the garment, said front side panel members being joined to the front panel member and side panel members in the rear of the garment along their contiguous side edges in a vertical direction from the top to the bottom of the garment to form an integral structure, each of said front side panel members consisting of two panel sections, a bottom panel section connecting the lower side portion of the front panel member with the lower side portion of the side panel members in the rear of the garment and a top panel section connecting the top side portion of the front panel member with the top side portion of the side panel member in the rear of the garment, each of said panel sections being long enough to extend lengthwise over more than one half but less than the entire length of the garment from top to bottom so that the lower portion of the top panel section is superimposed over the top portion of the bottom panel section throughout the entire width of the front side panel members, each of said top and bottom panel sections having their bottom and top edges respectively cut on a bias so that the areas in the front side panel members in which the panel sections are superimposed taper down along their top and bottom edges from the side panel members in the rear of the garment to the side of thefront panel member, each of said panel sections being made of a material which is elastic primarily in one direction, said top panel sections being so positioned in the garment that their lines of stretchability are at an acute angle relative to the horizontal axis of the garment and said bottom panel sections being so positioned in the garment that their lines of stretchability are also at an acute angle relative to the horizontal axis of the garment but oppositely disposed relative to the top panel sections, said top panel sections having their bottom edges attached to the body of the bottom panel sections along the entire width of the panel member, said bottom panel sections having their top edges attached to the body of the top panel sections along the entire width of the panel members and each of said panel sections having their opposite side edges joined in a vertical direction to contiguous edges of the front and side panel members in the rear of the garment respectively, whereby stresses applied to the front panel member tend to be resisted circumferentially by the elastic tension in the area of the front side panel members where the panel sections are superimposed and radially in the top and bottom portions of the front side panel members where the panel is formed of a single panel section.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1 in which each side panel member in the rear of the garment comprises two panel sections each of which is long enough to extend lengthwise over more than one half but less than the entire length of the garment from top to bottom so that the lower portion of the top panel section is superimposed over the top portion of the bottom panel section throughout the entire width of the panel member each of said top and bottom panel sections having its respective bottom and top portions cut on a bias so that the areas in the panel members in which the panel sections are superimposed taper down along their top and bottom edges from the front side panel members to the sides of the back panel member, each of said panel sections being made of a material which is elastic primarily in one direction and said panel sections being so positioned in the garment that the line of stretchability of both panel sections is in a circumferential direction in the garment and said. top and bottom panel sections being joined along the entire length of their side edges to contiguous edges of the front side panel members and back panel member and said top panel sections having their bottom edges attached to the body of the bottom panel sections along the entire width of the panel members and said bottom panel sections having their top edges attached to the body of the top panel sections along the entire width of the panel member.

3. In a foundation garment having a plurality of panel members joined together to form an integral garment, the combination which comprises a front fabric panel member running lengthwise from the top to the bottom of the garment which consists of material which is substantially inelastic horizontally and eircumferentially, a back panel member running lengthwise from the top to the bottom of the garment comprising a bottom portion made of material which is inelastic horizontally and circumferentially and a top portion made of material which is elastic primarily in a horizontal and circumferential direction, said bottom portion extending upwardly through a major portion of the length of the garment and said bottom and top portions being joined together along their contiguous edges in a circumferential direction, a pair of side panel members running lengthwise from the top to the bottom of the garment, each of which is positioned in the garment with one side edge contiguous to a side edge of the front panel member and the second side edge contiguous to a free side edge of the back panel member, said side panel members having their side edges joined to the front and back panel members along contiguous edges lengthwise from the top to the bottom of the garment to form an integral structure, each of said side panel members consisting of two panel sections, a bottom panel section connecting the bottom side portion of the front panel member with the bottom side portion of the back panel member and a top panel section connecting the top side portion of the front panel member with the top side portion of the back panel member each of said panel sections being long enough to extend lengthwise over more than one half but less than the entire length of the garment from top to bottom so that the lower portion of the top panel section is superimposed over the top portion of the bottom panel section throughout the entire width of the side panel members, each of said top and bottom panel sections having their bottom and top edges respectively out on a bias so that the areas of the side panel members in which the sections are superimposed taper down along their top and bottom edges from the back panel member to the side of the front panel member, each of said panel sections being made of a material which is elastic primarily in one direction, said top panel sections being so positioned in the garment that their lines of stretchability are at an acute angle relative to the horizontal axis of the garment and said bottom panel sections being so positioned in the garment that their lines of stretchability are also at an acute angle to the horizontal axis of the garment but oppositely disposed relative to the top panel sections, said top panel sections having their bottom edges attached to the body of the bottom panel sections along the entire width of the side panel member and said bottom panel sections having their top edges attached to the body of the top panel sections along the entire width of the side panel members whereby stresses applied to the front panel member tend to be resisted circumferentially by the elastic tension in the area of the side panels where the panel sections are superimposed and radially in the top and bottom portions of the side panel members where they are formed of a single panel section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,584,434 Colley May 11, 1926 2,338,193 McMichael Jan. 4, 1944 2,527,926 Frischer Oct. 31, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 840,099 France Jan. 11, 1939 462,882 Canada Jan. 31, 

